Elmira Elvazova

LIFE SENTENCES

August is late and standing us upamong the liliesnow we are held upat or againstour willour will is like learning to love again through the opening in the grasses which it is a bellin the morning I couldn’t see the street for the fog the rain picked up where I left offthinking of all the things we should let happen of their own accord thinking justiceis like the time I heard you sayinto the crowded room What is beautiful is not the object but the measureyou were reading me my rights and I thought this is an arresting life

A LAW UNTO ITSELF

When I missed my window you brought me another as in a replacement for the opportunity I missed people give you second chancesthen they really give yousecond chanceswhat are you holding onto if not other people I am beholden to a place the skyis not a looking glass under which we made a wrong turn togetherwhile driving downto see the Falls so it was right there I saw the apple trees barren from winterthe meadow remembered something of green I bade goodbye adieu, adieuand promised to return there having learned something of modesty there having rememberedmy roots I’ll goin on this with you if you promise to give me my share of what proceedsI’m at the height of madness at times I feel taller than the moon it’s only when I hearlaughter coming from the railway I’m standing under the avenues watching a storm about to break for you who are learning or leaning into moods of sky let me put this gently here are the dark clouds come to rain

Elmira Elvazova received her MFA in Poetry from the UMASS MFA Program for Poets & Writers. Her work has appeared in Route Nine and Big Big Wednesday. She is currently working on a long poem inspired by Philip Glass’s piano compositions, entitled “Autumn Études.” She lives in Northampton, MA.